The Great Cross - Country Road Trip to Disney

On August 25th, I closed a very special chapter in my life. I worked my last day at the UNLV Office of Admissions. For two years, the office was basically my second home and I met many wonderful people during my time there. I made so many friends that I know I will be keeping in close contact with. They surprised me with a card and cake before my shift was over. I cried, of course. But I was very touched and hope all my coworkers know what it meant to me!


The next morning found my mom and I attempting (and eventually succeeding) to load a trailer full of my life and leave Las Vegas. A planned leaving time of 11 AM eventually turned in to 3 PM, but we eventually made it out. We spent an evening in Provo, UT that included smuggling my cat in to our hotel room and eating take out from Cracker Barrel at 11 PM.

I then spent around a week in my home town of Rawlins, WY. I got to see some of my friends (but, as always, not enough - I'll be glad to see them again in January) and spend a little time at home. I also made sure to make plenty of trips to the restaurants I won't get in Florida. But September 2nd came very quickly and I was off on the road again.

My dad and I made a four day trip across country to Orlando, FL (also known as the Tour de Fairfield - I'm pretty sure we've earned stock in Marriott/Fairfield now). Along the way, I decided to take a picture with each of the state lines we crossed. The first day of our trip was a long one, and brought us all the way from Wyoming to the middle of Kansas. In general, this leg of the trip taught me that Kansas is pretty indistinguishable from Nebraska.

Kansas

Colorado

The next morning brought us another long day of driving. We left Kansas and crossed in to a small portion of Oklahoma, in to Arkansas and to our final stop in Memphis, Tennessee for the night. We actually stayed in a small town right outside Memphis called Southaven. I was hoping to get a chance to see my friend Tara, but unfortunately time and weather were not our side. Tropical Storm Lee was making it's way in, and we would see much more of him tomorrow. We did get a free appetizer at the Longhorn Steakhouse next to this particular Fairfield!

Oklahoma

Arkansas

Tennessee, right outside of Memphis

The next morning was a sleep in day. We took our time getting up, and then headed over to spend the morning at Graceland. Graceland was beautiful. The house was much smaller than I expected, but beautiful none the less. It was also very 70's. We got to tour the house (minus the upstairs, which were Elvis' private quarters as well as where he died), the yard and trophy building, his car collection, two airplanes and an exhibit of some of his clothes. The tour finished with a visit to Elvis' grave site in his former meditation garden. Afterwards, we ate lunch at the Chrome Grill and had meatloaf made from Elvis' favorite recipe.

The living room, including a 15 foot white couch

A portrait of Elvis near the stair case to the upstairs

Some of Elvis' iconic "Vegas" style outfits

Elvis' grave site, including his eternal flame at the top

It was a very interesting experience altogether. I expected it to be a popular place and see other people there, but it was SO busy! This may have been in part due to the fact that it was Labor Day Weekend, but we were very glad we got there as early as we did. If anyone has the FourSquare application on their phones, here's another reason to make use of it: I got a free poster just for "checking in" at Graceland.

We continued our driving for a short while after we left Graceland, crossing in to a small corner of Mississippi and Stopping for the night in Birmingham, AL. We both decided that we liked Alabama over the other states we had previously driven across. It's very, very pretty  land. Despite dealing with people who consider sweet tea "regular" tea (seriously, what?), I enjoyed my time in Alabama.

Mississippi, with my Elvis poster

Alabama

The next morning, we were up fairly early to finish the last leg of our drive. We left Alabama, crossed through Georgia and at long last, made it into Florida! Unfortunately, despite our best efforts including exiting off the highway, turning around and driving part way back in to Georgia, we were unable to locate a "Welcome to Georgia" sign and I have come to the highly logical conclusion that Georgia doesn't believe in them. Instead, please enjoy the picture of a forlorn Steamboat Willie looking out the car window where the Georgia sign should be. Florida, the Sunshine State, greeted us with rain. But it did smell beautiful!

Georgia

Florida

We (once again) checked in to the Fairfield once we arrived in Lake Buena Vista. We had dinner at a nearby Carraba's and I was lucky enough to get to say hi to room mate, Ellen, for a few minutes. She had flown in, around the same time we'd arrived, all the way from California.

Now that we had made it, the craziness was about to begin! Expect an update about my check in day soon!

The Florida Bucket List

One of the new features I've added along the side bar to the left is my "Florida Bucket List" (yea, I think it needs a better name too. Suggestions, please?). This is my list of must-dos while living in Florida, my "Mission: Disney World" of sorts. I had one (at least in my mind) while living in California, and managed to complete many of the items on that list. I thought it might be fun to keep track of my Florida one on my blog this time. I hope to make blog updates about each item as I complete it, and eventually turn the items on the side bar into links that direct you to the blog entry about them.

Some of the items on my list include:

Visit Miami

I would like to explore outside Orlando, as that is the only part of Florida I have ever seen. Miami is a reasonable drive from where I'll be living in Lake Buena Vista. To top it off, the concert of my dreams is happening there on my birthday. Incubus, my favorite band EVER is performing there that night. Over the past 4 years, I have succeeded seeing them exactly zero times and missing them by a few days 3 times, due to moving or vacation. Is this fate, perhaps?

Have Dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

It's one of the most expensive restaurants in Walt Disney World, and very likely the most difficult to get into. People make reservations more than 3 months in advance to eat here. I don't even know if my Cast Member discount would work here. But darn it, I'm going to have dinner here one way or or another. I've heard the food is great, and it is inside the castle. If that doesn't get a girl's inner princess going, I don't know what would. The princesses, and Cindy's Fairy Godmother are out during dinner, which makes it a good stop to get more autographs in my autograph book too.

Drink Around "The World"

My favorite part of Epcot is the World Showcase. And there's a challenge you can complete, known as "Drinking Around the World", at this lovely collection of mini countries. There's margaritas in Mexico, dark beer in Germany, and wine in France. Eleven glorious locations to stop and try authentic booze from countries around the world. And, being almost 23, I'm fully able to complete this challenge. For obvious reasons, the challenge is best completed with a buddy or two and I'm sure my room mate Ellen will be totally prepared for this.  This item may have to wait until the cooler months, as drinking excessively in the late summer Florida sun and humidity sounds about as fun as running a marathon around World Showcase in the middle of July.

So these are just a snippet of the full list, which you can check out on the side bar. Does anyone have any ideas for a better name for the list? Suggestions of what to add? Let me know in the comments!

...and may all your Christmases be white

In an insanely short amount of time, the Christmas day has come and gone. The holidays are still going strong (through January 2nd) at the resort, though!

The holiday season officially started at Disneyland on November 12th. Decorations went up all around the resort, the annual "Christmas Fantasy Parade" returned, as did the "Believe...in Holiday Magic" fireworks show. Main Street became home to the gigantic Christmas tree and tree lighting each night, and Santa, Mrs. Claus and the reindeer moved in to the Big Thunder BBQ Ranch. Each night snow fell on the castle and Main Street 3 different times as part of the "wintertime enchantment" mini play in 3 acts - Wish, Dream, and Believe.

One of the most interesting things to me was guests' reactions to the snow fall. It's quite obviously not the snow I see back in Wyoming, but it had people in tears every night without fail. It made me realize snow can be truly beautiful and fascinating to someone who doesn't have to drive in it 6 months out of the year and deal with their travel plans always changing because of it.

I managed to take a few photos of the decorations around the park as well as steal some from my room mate:

the centerpiece in Town Square!

close up of the tree's decorations

the Toon Town Christmas tree

Sleeping Beauty's castle during the day

the Main Street tree at night

New Orleans Square got in the spirit too

Critter Country's decor

 

 

 

"its a small world" has a light show every 15 minutes

 

 

the castle after the snow fall

 

 

Over in Tomorrowland, however, Christmas was scarce. We didn't get any decorations, shows. or events. There is no Christmas in the future, my friends.

this small child battling Darth Vader is close as you'll get to Christmas around here.

Disneyland also puts on a holiday party for cast members and their families. The private parties are held two days in December, and each cast member gets tickets for one of the days. They go enjoy the party and a park full of cast members only on that night, and then the other night they work so the other half of the cast members can enjoy the party. 

It was a really fun experience to have the park open just for cast members and not regular guests. Wait times for attractions were low, there were quite a few rare characters out for pictures, and managers were out doing front of the line roles, taking tickets, and passing out candy canes. The next night,  I worked the party.This was almost as fun as attending; cast members are allowed to eat "on stage", other cast members can bring you churros or cotton candy or hot chocolate, and you can go have fun during your breaks. I managed to get a ride on Big Thunder Mountain in during my 15 minute break, while dressed in my Star Command uniform. 

One of the highlights of working that night was coming back from lunch to discover Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar Animation Studios wearing a Star Command costume and working as Greeter outside Astro Blasters. He was definitely and interesting guy!

Merry Christmas! this may or may not be an illegal use of the Jolly Trolley.

Disney Legends and Dreams

The last few weeks have been pretty busy and exciting for me here out in Anaheim! This program truly has had a TON of opportunities for me, some of which have recently included:

Meeting Disney Legend, Marty Sklar //   If you don't already know who Marty is, take a look at his Wikipedia page. He was one of the greatest Imagineers Disney has ever had, and even got his own window on Main Street in Disneyland recently (which is a pretty big deal - his up there with people like Walt and Roy). He's now retired. The college program students had a chance to attend a "conversation" with Marty, and I jumped at the chance to sign up.

Marty is a fascinating and humble man. He got his start as editor of the Disneyland Times, a tabloid newspaper that sold for ten cents on Main Street when Disneyland opened. He worked closely with Walt throughout his career, and wrote personal scripts and pieces for Walt's use. He brought quite a few clips and short films he helped with as part of the Public Relations team for Disneyland Resort. One of the more interesting things was a clip that was used to encourage General Electric to sponsor the original Carousel of Progress when Walt took it to the World's Fair. There was also a clip for a really
 catchy song that was meant to secure Ford as a sponsor for an attraction as well - which they ultimately declined. Marty also shared with us how he was a part of ensuring that Space Mountain actually became a reality, and the back story to the attraction's creation. He then took questions from the group on anything we wanted to ask to him. He told us how he was always amazed that Walt had time to go over things that seemed insignificant, such as meeting with him to discuss the Disneyland Times when they were getting ready to publish it. Walt always had time for the details, which are what make Disneyland what it is. He also told us what John Hench, another famous Imagineer said once about Disneyland's purpose, that I think is now one of my favorite quotes: "Disneyland is not about escapism or escaping reality. It's about reminding people that reality can be okay, life can be nice. You can talk to a stranger in a public place. A public place can be clean. That's what Disneyland is - a reminder that life is still wonderful."

Touring the Dream Suite // The Disneyland Dream Suite is a luxury suite that was built above Pirates of the Caribbean a few years ago in the former location of the Disney Gallery. It was built as part of the Year of a Million Dreams promotion (Disney World has one too, inside Cinderella's Castle). It was given away to a lucky family each night. Now days, those who can afford it and like the appeal of staying in a suite inside Disneyland stay there, as well as contest winners from various places. Jon Storbeck, VP of Disneyland Park, told us during his presentation for the Leadership Speakers' Series that he recently arranged for a young girl who is losing her sight to stay there with her family. He wanted her to have  a memory that that could stay with her long after her sight is gone, and the Dream Suite was the most beautiful place he could think of. He even arranged for Cinderella to meet the family; she presented the little princess with a dress and accessories of her own.

The suite was a dream of Walt's, and he had actually started work on it in that space before he died. He wanted to have a place to entertain high profile guests as well as stay with his family inside his park (his firehouse apartment is not very large). Once he died, however, his family didn't wish to continue on the venture without him, so it eventually transformed into the Disney Gallery for many years. It's finally completed as Walt's Dream Suite, and it really is an amazing place. The entrance is behind Tarzan's Treehouse, via a hidden elevator.  It includes a concierge office, a concealed outdoor patio, a master bed and bath, a walk in closet, a living room,  a second bedroom, and a second patio for Fantasmic! viewing. Here's various pictures inside the suite, that I, of course, stole from my room mate Ellen!

The Adventureland master bedroom - you can hear Tarzan's Treehouse through the window.

   

  




The suite during the "Goodnight Kiss" - a fun little thing guests can choose to play up to 3 times during their stay. The room goes dark, and the painting at the head board comes to life with the mermaids from Neverland. The bed becomes a waterfall, and you can hear the mermaids giggling and music.

The end of the "Kiss" features the lamp becoming a moon and Captain Hook's pixie-dust enhanced pirate ship actually flying by.

The bathroom in the master suite is Fantasyland themed. The bath tub features this stained glass window, and faucets in the shape of swans. 

There is an "enchantment" with the bathtub where soft music plays,  and the walls fade into stars, including an appearance from a certain mouse!

The vanity inside the bathroom.

The smaller vanity inside the Main Street themed walk in closet

The concealed patio, featuring Pirates of the Caribbean music

The fireplace in the living room. Every so often, the sparks from the "fire" become fireworks.

Portraits in the living room of the two castles that Walt used for inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle

The living room has three "enchantments" using the grandfather clock. When each one happens, something else in the room comes to life as well, and music plays. The morning one features the birds from the Tiki Room. A small cage on the mantle with tiny mechanical birds comes to life for this one. Our guide told us the cage is one of two that Walt personally bought in New Orleans and used to come up with ideas for the Tiki Room birds, his very first animatronics. Those little birds are the fathers of everything you see in Disneyland today. 

 The afternoon enchantment features the Pinocchio characters.

During this one, the mirror over the mantle lights up with an image of the castle and a twinkling star in the top corner while "When You Wish Upon a Star" plays

The night time enchantment has Cinderella and her prince, and plays "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"








There is a glass case with various knick knacks in the living room. During the last enchantment, a glass slipper sparkles and a figure of Cinderella and her Prince dances.

 

A second bedroom is attached to the living room and has two beds in it. It is Frontierland themed, and a shelf lines the upper wall filled with little toys.

The "Goodnight Kiss" in this room involves a toy train coming to life and traveling the shelf, bringing the little toys to life as it passes.

 The view from the second patio, for Fantasmic! viewing

John Lasseter's signature inside the guest book 

In the living room, under the custom made chandelier 

 It's really a place out of a dream! I am really glad I got to see inside it, I can't imagine what it's like to actually stay there!